What brought you to The Revival?

Joined on 4th April, finally plucked up the courage to post. Was too scared to join up before, you lot seemed a scary, aggressive bunch! You would pick on one member and everyone would gang up on him. I found lilsis the most scariest.

Dunno why i joined, but i'm glad i did. Have met some wonderful sisters.

Why have i stayed? Revivals part of life now lol, sad i no! Who cares! I dunno, it's just a habit now. Like you check your emails, you check the revival out.

If I came across the site, would I join? Never. Why? Cz the forums are dead, lifeless, no discussions, nothing, zilch.

What could be done? Firstly, a new pack of similes! You hear that admin, SIMILIES! More sections, and a flood of new members!

started reading the website since last ramzaan. Had a few glimpses on and off past couple of years.

Been a regular listener of mashal radio and now on here everyday. Also met saj first time ever during ramzaan via a freind (doctor Sh**** lol)

I don't think we will ever go down the having too amny sections route. Just not to my taste. Whenever I go to a different forum, it takes em ages to find the right places!

(yeah that could be me geting old, but from the start I have preferred simplicity).

I am certain that the request for different smileys is borderline blackmail. :?

I think one of the problems that killed this place was over moderation - people get told off now for using the word "crap". In the past I am certain that I myself have used much harsher terms.

what can be done? Maybe start focussing on news again? People used to use as a reliable breakdown of what is happening around the world! We have now lost that audience.

[quote="You"]I don't think we will ever go down the having too amny sections route. Just not to my taste. Whenever I go to a different forum, it takes em ages to find the right places![/quote]

it's always me, myself and i! we're part of to forum to you no, don't our opinions count? 😢
after all, it is us guys who make the forum what it is :roll:

news topic? errr no, ppl, the same people still chip in now and again. we don't have any real islamic discussions going on which is ironic as this is meant to be an islamic forum.

aye, the moderation is a bit to ott, it has made the forum dull.

I went to my friends house and I read a magazine that was lying in his bedroom, which was actually given to him by another friend. So I read it and liked it.

I came to this website ages before I even became a member and looked through the different threads and it was really lively back then so I thought let's give it a go so I joined.

The forums dead now, so I don't really blame people for not joining 😛

I first registered back in Decemeber 31st, 2003 @ precisely 2.45pm (or atleast that what my old profile says on the old boards).

I had already met Saj at some sort of Islamic gathering and encountered the revival well before that (although it was more of a newsletter than a magazine back then).

I visited the Revival website out of boredom. I was at the library waiting for my brother and decided to jump onto a computer and surf the web. I had a copy of the revival with me and saw that they had a website and so i visited it. Took a look at their forums (which were insane back then... but in a a good way) and decided to register.

What made me join: the atmosphere was well different back then. The place was more like a drama seriel and always made me laugh (especially Omrow (he was the man)). We had loads of Islamic discussions (and since I barely knew anything back then I wanted to ask questions). I guess it was mostly the need to ask questions and have them answered.

Why have I stayed: well like noor said out of habbit. Visiting the revival website has become a habit for me. Although i feel less and less inclined to come back each time as the forums are dead. But it was the magazine that actually brought me to the website and from there to the forums.

I do think the forums are over moderated a little. Theres way too much sensorship. And the Islamic discussions seem to have slowly disappeared... possibly coz we've discussed them to death. It might be time for a re-do job. Wipe the slate clean and start again. I dunno about the news part... we only really discussed it if it was some HUGE piece of news (9/11 etc).

And i do agree... we need new SMILES!!! We've been saying it ever since we moved to these stupid forums!!!

And we can do with other sections. So we can keep all the Islamic discussions on one board and the mindless ranting and raving on another. It would be much easier to find older discussions if they were separated out.

Im serious...

for all those who weren't there in the beginning.

check it out:

[url]http://therevival.proboards18.com/index.cgi?board=general[/url]

These are the old revival boards (which still exist for some strange reason) if you flick through their first page and read some of the topics. You'll definatley see the difference between what we have at the moment and what it was like back then.

Years back my friend told me to post on this forum…(I was in my second year in Uni with too much time on my hands)

I too was initially too intimidated to post – the people here were a clever and aggressive bunch.

And yes, the quality of the debates was much better back then…but I think all of us (esp the initial posters) have grown up since then - although that should make the quality of debates better. :?

Habit makes me stick around. And the involvement with the magazine.

I'm not sure if I'd join if I'd encountered it today - prob cos I'm not 18 any more.

Those old forums are still around because they have some good content.

So basically we need to get the website out of the necrophilia phase.

Why focus a little more on news? because it gives us easy updates. If we stick to articles only, we either have to write them (which we do for every issue - it is hard work. Ask those that do the job if you don't believe me.), or find good content we can link to.

There WILL be a new site coming soon. That much is a guarantee. I am just checking what needs to be done to revive The Revival. I have some radical ideas which will be shot down, but I want an implementation to test out there first.

Forums will continue on phpbb in parallel for a short while, and then there will probably be a clean break to a new system. Why? because it is easier for me. Secondly, it will get rid of any excess baggage associated with these forums.

My aim is to have this done before christmas, or if possible before next issue is released.

[quote="MuslimBro"]I went to my friends house and I read a magazine that was lying in his bedroom, which was actually given to him by another friend. So I read it and liked it.[/quote]

This is the bit that puzzles me. We print how many thousands of copies of each issue. We know many people read each copy. Each page of each copy has the web address on it, but do we get any increase in interest around those times? I don't thin we do. (I can't be sure this time as it coincided with em being away for a month.)

[quote="Seraphim"]And i do agree... we need new SMILES!!! We've been saying it ever since we moved to these stupid forums!!!

And we can do with other sections. So we can keep all the Islamic discussions on one board and the mindless ranting and raving on another. It would be much easier to find older discussions if they were separated out.[/quote]

Admin, please take heed.

[quote="You"][quote="MuslimBro"]I went to my friends house and I read a magazine that was lying in his bedroom, which was actually given to him by another friend. So I read it and liked it.[/quote]

This is the bit that puzzles me. We print how many thousands of copies of each issue. We know many people read each copy. Each page of each copy has the web address on it, but do we get any increase in interest around those times? I don't thin we do. (I can't be sure this time as it coincided with em being away for a month.)[/quote]

How many people are into forums? Not many.

Plus, I know tons of people who read but dont post.

[b]1. What made you come on the Revival Website?[/b]
Can't remember.

[b]2. What made you stay?[/b]
Good discussions.

[b]3. If you encountered the website for the first time today, would the outcome be any different?[/b]
Probably not.

[b]4. Why?[/b]
It's all a bit quiet. There's no passionate debates anymore.

[b]5. What can be done about it?[/b]
Get more people to sign up. Break up the forum into subject specific boards.

[quote="MuslimSister"]How many people are into forums? Not many. [/quote]

Good point. I know many people who just don't "get" forums. "Is it like chat?" "but the discussion can take days?" UI akm actually surprised that 'Ed managed to "get" it. (when I first proposed adding a forum, I don't think he was immediately onboard.)

[quote]Plus, I know tons of people who read but dont post.[/quote]

True, but there should always be a correlation of posters to lurkers. since we are not getting more posters, I would assume it is similar with lurkers. But the added drawback that they have nothing to lurk for.

[quote="You"]True, but there should always be a correlation of posters to lurkers. since we are not getting more posters, I would assume it is similar with lurkers. But the added drawback that they have nothing to lurk for.[/quote]

Could we then open up the forum to non-members?

We could still protect against spammers by adding in image verification for posts by non-members.

Not sure that is possible on phpbb (what we are using now).

[quote="You"]Not sure that is possible on phpbb (what we are using now).[/quote]

Image verification or posting by non-members?

image verification for anonymous posts.

I can have anonymous posts (We used to have it, , but we got rid of that due to spam).

Is there spam protection for anonymous posts on phpbb?

not by default and searching google for a mod, I doubt there is one.

Ah. So we can't open up to non-members.

How about making the sign up process simpler? Don't have so many questions and text boxes on the sign-up page.

The forums are already heavily modified. My gut feeling is to let these stay as they are and plan for the next site upgrade - which will easily fix most of these issues - but probably add a few others.

Since my last post I have seen a few anti spam mods - only problem is that they are not always effective. I will look into this further.

the revival magazine issued in my local mosque recieved it once got hooked on the forum

I remember gettin the mag in uni. I was on my way home an some girl just shoved it in my face lol. Normally when i get junk handed to ppl on the streets i tend to chuck it away but for some reason i kept hold of it. It was an Eid edition i think. Anyway got onto the bus and was readin and thinkin this is sooo funny and true and trying to contain my laughter and stop myself from smiling every two seconds (coz the bus was packed and i didnt want ppl thinkin i was a weirdo lol). Found out bout the forum when i went onto the website.

I first came onto the website to get details on how to subscribe to the mag after having read and absolutely loved Issue 2 a few months previous. I didn’t even notice the forum then, but kept coming back to the site to read more and more articles on all the different subjects. I remember being quite surprised at how established The Revival was and thought the website was just brilliant. I knew almost nothing about Islam at the time and this website was the place I learnt a lot of stuff for the very first time and also what inspired me to learn and practice more. I sent a letter with the subscription and a couple of days later got a call from a brother from The Revival asking me to give feedback on the latest issue which I could read on the site. When I was sent the next issue he again asked for feedback, so I decided to join the forum and post it on the relevant thread here.

The people, the topics on the forum, and just loving the magazine are reasons why I post. I’d like to think those reasons would still be why I’d join today if I came across it, although it is pretty quiet and quite a few people who used to post a lot back then hardly do now. I think that’s probably down to lack of time as maybe their circumstances have changed, ie left uni and started full-time work or got married, had kids etc, more than anything else. However new members haven’t really taken over, probably because IMO The Revival seems so close-knit which is probably off-putting and daunting to new members and also maybe coz more time is spent reminiscing about old members than welcoming new ones.

I’m not at all keen on loads of sections to this forum, a few more but definitely not loads. This forum is only a part of the whole website so there is plenty on offer I think. The news articles posted on the homepage rarely get any replies though, so what about creating a new thread on each one also. Then post a few chosen replies at the end of the article itself, directing the reader to the relevant thread to read more comments and thus link them to the forum.

Bump for the n00bs